1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for stacking containers on a pallet, and more particularly to such an apparatus for automatically stacking a plurality of sequentially presented containers of generally parallelpiped form into a pack rested on a pallet, the pack having a predetermined number of the containers disposed in a plurality of rows and the rows arranged in stacks, each having a predetermined number of containers, the apparatus having particular utility for use in commercial packing of agricultural products.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Agricultural products such as fruits and vegetables conventionally are shipped in boxes or containers. The containers for each product are of predetermined dimensions and are of a size which can be manipulated by one person at the destination. Since it is expensive to provide the labor required to handle each container individually at the various stages of storage, loading, transhipment, and unloading, a predetermined number of containers are stacked in a predetermined arrangement on a pallet of a specific dimension so that this number of containers can be handled as a unit.
Heretofore, it has been necessary to stack each pallet manually with the required number of containers. Due to the cost of labor, such manual stacking is expensive. In any event, since this stacking is only required during seasonal harvesting, the necessary labor is frequently difficult to obtain. Further, such manual stacking is dangerous and, if carelessly done, results in stacks which occasionally tumble, damaging and/or wasting the produce and requiring restacking, often at an inconvenient location.
It has therefore long been known that it would be desirable to provide an apparatus which stacks containers on a pallet without human manipulation or attention with the containers being supplied individually to the apparatus until a pallet is fully stacked with the containers disposed in a predetermined array thereon. It has been recognized as essential that such an apparatus assemble the stacks neatly and accurately so that the stacks are secure. It has also long been known as desirable that such apparatus be adaptable to stack a pallet with packs having different numbers and dispositions of containers in the rows and stacks.